February 25, 2008

Revelation 12:10 makes an astonishing statement regarding Satan and what he is; “…the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them before our God day and night, has been hurled down.” There has never been a time in human history before now when accusations, innuendos and conjecture were the first source of accepted truth. Speculation is acknowledged as the first option for discovery. The Pharisees used false accusations in an attempt to trap Jesus, “…looking for a reason to accuse Jesus, they asked him, “Is it lawful to heal on the Sabbath?” (Matthew 12:10 NIV) There is only one place for accusations to come from. We read the origin in Revelations 12:10. Satan is the accuser of the brethren.

 

Jesus made the position of the Pharisees very plain in John 8:44, “You belong to your father, the devil, and you want to carry out your father’s desire. He was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.”  When you accuse someone of something you are joining yourself to the father of lies. God did not appoint you to be an accuser. God called you to bear the burdens of the weak.

 

You should expect to suffer accusations in this life. People will attack you when you excel. Prosperity produces it own brand of suffering at the hands of people who feel entitled to what you have without paying the personal price of work and patience to have it. Even in the realms of Christianity, leaders will be targeted for accusations. Acts 23:12 reveals what Paul endured, “The next morning the Jews formed a conspiracy and bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they had killed Paul.” Conspiracy is to accusation, what gasoline is to fire. Every evil falsehood needs an accelerant to spread. Be careful that you do not get caught up in being God’s police force to take down those who are doing wrong. Are you greater than God? Should you really assume that you could step into a divine role as judge and executioner?

 

Each of us has an obligation according to 1 Peter 2:12 that we,  “Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.” But even in doing so we are not exempt from the accusation of the jealous. Nor are we free from the unwarranted scrutiny of a tainted personal perspective. It’s called perspective because it your view of what is seen. Our perspective is filtered through our memory of past experiences to form an opinion. Once we form an opinion we then make a value judgment, followed by a criteria of acceptance that we measure relationships with. Finally, we open our mouth to apply the accelerant that commences the process of character assassination; we make the accusation!

 

I can hear you screaming at the monitor, “But what if it’s true?” Okay, what did Jesus do with the woman caught in the very act of adultery? John 8:7 gives us His response, “…He that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” What? She is guilty-this is no accusation. Jesus said He did not come to condemn the world, but to give it life. Are you speaking life or death over someone today by the accusations that are coming from you?  John 8:10-11 takes the whole scenario even further, “When Jesus had lifted up himself, and saw none but the woman, he said unto her, Woman, where are those thine accusers? hath no man condemned thee? She said, No man, Lord. And Jesus said unto her, Neither do I condemn thee: go, and sin no more.” So now, lets go back to your question, “What if it’s true?” Even then you have the power to choose freedom and life over someone rather than punishment and death. You can stone them if you want to but remember the requirement that has to be met; “he that is without sin must cast the first stone.”

 

Proverbs 17:5 shocks us into examining our attitudes about accusing others, true or false, by stating, “and he that is glad at calamities shall not be unpunished.” Isaiah 5:20 warns us to be careful with the accusations by declaring, “Woe unto them that call evil good, and good evil; that put darkness for light, and light for darkness; that put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter!” Remember this; accusations are the tool of equalization used by those who suffer with an inferior self-image or a spirit of entitlement. Sometimes when you isolate yourself from evildoers the result will be accusations, according to 1 Peter 4:4, “Wherein they think it strange that ye run not with them to the same excess of riot, speaking evil of you.”

 

Matthew 5:10-12 gives you this promise, “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness’ sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.”

February 24, 2008

Today was an amazing day to discover the greatness of God. In particular, His ability to complete us with every good work He has ordained for our lives. My spirit is stirred today about restoration. God has the power to restore our lives to the original intent for which He created us.I was moved today with the Biblical account of King David desiring to bless the house of Saul. Saul had made it his mission to destroy David out of jealousy, and the harsh reality that God had rejected Saul. In spite of how much personal agony David had lived at the hand of Saul, he still longed to bless his descendants. After the search was over, Mephibosheth was located. Mephibosheth was the son of Jonathan, and the grandson of Saul. Mephibosheth was a cripple. When the news of Saul and Jonathan’s death had reached the royal palace during his childhood, Mephibosheth’s baby sitter fled the house with him and fell in the process, leaving Mephibosheth paralyzed from the waist down. 2 Samuel 9:7 relays the blessings David bestowed upon him, “I will restore to you all the land that belonged to your grandfather Saul, and you will always eat at my table.” What struck me about this generous display of restoration was the bitter sweet fact that it was going to be incomplete. Mephibosheth was still going to be a cripple.

Is it possible for you to be alive, but functioning at a capacity far less than you were created for? In John 10:10 Jesus tells us, “The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.” Why is it that after we know the truth that sets us free, we are so easily ensnared again unto bondage? Galatians 5:1 commands us to, “Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.” There is even the dire effect of 2 Peter 2:20 we must contend with when considering how easily we are moved from freedom back into bondage, “ For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.” Break the cycle of returning to the acquaintance of your past bondage.

You were created to be complete in Jesus Christ.Accepting partial restoration is the myth that you should be satisfied with where you are, instead of being made whole. John 11:38-40 reveals the story of Lazarus death, and Jesus’ actions surrounding it, “Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” God has the power to remove the stone and yet He asks someone else to do it. Why? Because we have a spiritual obligation to not seal as finished the events of our live until God says it is over! When it is time for you to have closure there will be a sense of completeness and an awareness of being whole. Until then, remove the barriers and open the passages of what you have buried as being dead! Until the, “Roll the stone away!”

You and I must stop relegating God to our human understanding to make Him more palatable! Romans 1:18-23 gives us this reality check, “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them. For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse, because, although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorruptible God into an image made like corruptible man.” The effects of this has caused Spirits of Infirmity to be released, and to take hold of our land and plague us with illnesses that have no physical reasoning’s for their torment! I came across two startling statistics to support this: “Diagnostic and Statistical Manual for Mental Disorders, was released in 1952, and had about 106 different mental disorders. It has since gone through 5 revisions and now has about 375.” “In 1999 the World Health Organization ranked depression as the world’s fourth most devastating illness, projecting that it would climb to second place by 2020”

Luke 13: 10-13 gives a perfect illustration for the modern dillemna we face with mental illness that are the result of a spiritual issue, “Now He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath. And behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent over and could in no way raise herself up. But when Jesus saw her, He called her to Him and said to her, “Woman, you are loosed from your infirmity.” And He laid His hands on her, and immediately she was made straight, and glorified God.” Your mental health is directly correlated to the condition of your spiritual wholeness! You are not crazy-you are bound! I speak freedom over your life today that every Spirit of Infirmity release its hold on your life in Jesus Name! Disclaimer: Some mental illnesses are pysically related and require proper medical treatment. For those we offer the added support of prayer to the physician’s treatment decisions.

You are being called to rise up out of your incomplete life and embrace a healing wholeness that only God can give you! Luke 7:14 shows God’s ability to alter what looks like a finished scenario, “Then He came and touched the open coffin, and those who carried him stood still. And He said, “Young man, I say to you, arise.” It is not over until Jesus has made you complete. After the young man was commanded to get up, Jesus told those who had been carrying the boy, “Take him to his Mother.” The young man was resurrected, but his Mother was made complete!God is calling you today to come out of the tomb you have enshrined your hopes and dreams in. He is speaking release into your life to enact wholeness in you. John 11:43 shows the power of Jesus to call you forth, “Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” Hear the voice of the Spirit today! You are being summoned out of death into life more abundantly!

Your resurrection is at hand. You are being called to step out of darkness into His marvelous light!I want to ask you a piercing question, “How long do you intend to live in a state of partial restoration?” Break all the way free right now in Jesus Name! John 11:44 paints the scene of so many lives today, “And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.” Yes you are saved! Yes you have been brought back from death! Yes you have experienced resurrection! But are you free? Lazarus hobbles out of the graver at Jesus’ command, resurrected but restricted! Born again but bound! Saved but suffering! I hear the words of Jesus being spoken over the incomplete restoration your life represents, “Loose him and let him go!” This is your day to shed the stench of death from your life. This is your day to move out of the tomb, and leave the community of death behind! This is your moment for complete wholeness and total restoration! I am standing with you today for a finished work in your life!